She Cranes on Sunday secured the much-needed win against Trinidad and Tobago to propel Uganda to the next level of the Netball World Cup 2023 competition taking place in Cape Town, South Africa.
She Cranes safely sailed through to the second stage of the preliminaries after beating Trinidad and Tobago 74-34 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.
Achola Lillian and Namulumba Christine got their maiden start during the encounter with Trinidad and Tobago.
The first quarter did not go so well, ending in a 14-11 display.
At the start of the second quarter, Namulumba paved the way for goal machine Cholhok Mary Nuba.
By the end of the quarter, She Cranes had already pulled off a 15-goal difference.
Nuba’s impact saw Uganda stretch it out to 33-18 by the halftime break.
Before the third quarter, She Cranes coach, Fred Mugerwa, made more changes which saw Achola off and Shadia Nassanga on the court.
Eyaru Irene switched to Wing Attack, Nakitto back to Goal Defence (GD) and Nalwanja to Wing Defence (WD).
In a clear control of the game with Irene Eyaru in Wing Attack, She Cranes stretched their goal-scoring, even more, to cap the quarter with 54-27.
With Haniisha Muhameed paving the way for Stella Nanfuka as Goal Keeper (GK), Uganda was in a comfortable lead of the game with a quarter to go.
The game ended with a 74-34 victory for Uganda.
Uganda sealed its Pool D deal in second position, second only to defending champions New Zealand with Trinidad & Tobago and Singapore in third and fourth positions, respectively.
Exceptional performance
The cranes, who yesterday gave New Zealand’s Silver Ferns the scare of their lives, are making wonders with one of their own, Baagala Margret, being rated among the best-performing players in the tournament.
She is second in rank, in two games and 57 feeds only one behind Khadijah Williams.
For offensive rebounds, Mary Nuba has six and is 4th among the top 5, while in deflection ranking, Shaffie Nalwanja is second among the top 5. She has 12.
Earlier today, defending champions New Zealand closed out their Group D matches with a comprehensive 80-19 victory over the lowest-ranked team in the tournament, Singapore.
Having beaten the same opposition by 68 goals at the last World Cup in Liverpool four years ago, few would have expected anything other than another win for the Silver Ferns when the two sides faced off again on Sunday.
